Pricing aka "Oh my god, Becky... look at those costs!" aka "OMG why do you charge so much! Greeder not a breeder!"
After having a bit of backfire on not listing pup prices, I will try and explain things here... and I will accept that I really need to be kinder and post prices. But, I'm not kind and you'll have to contact me to find out the prices. I don't charge for colors or genders, but for the puppy. If you're concernedAfter all, if I'm out of your price range it will save us both time. The prices on current litters (aka girls prego now based on the stud) will be placed under 'expected litters'. You're welcome.
Now for those wanting to know why my pups are priced as they are, here's why!
Long, long post incoming... If you're really interested, scroll down, otherwise read the red print below. ;)
tl;dr: This stuff's expensive for reasons, check litter page for pricing.
My puppies aren't churned out, the breedings are specifically chosen to progress MY program. The fact that I can't keep them all results in you fabulous people getting a shot at having one. That said, different breedings and costs mean different pricing. I try to keep my prices workable. Let me give you a bit of a run-down on costs ...and be forewarned, it's a ball-park figure here. Sometimes cheaper, sometimes not:
Breeding - stud fees? They can be pick of litter or the cost of a pup. So, on average you're looking at about $2000 for a breeding. I only breed via AI with outside studs, so costs for semen include shipping, etc, but not actual insemination.
Artificial Insemination - $80 a pop to do progesterone tests at my repro vet to determine when a bitch is in heat and receptive to conception. ...yes, it's 'bitch'. It really is! That's the term for a female dog. Get over it. ;)
On average this is about $80x5+ per breeding. That is on average $400-500 to test, then an additional 130.00 to inseminate vaginally with the costs increasing astronomically depending on how you inseminate, if the sperm is fresh cooled, frozen, if it's MY stud, he still has to be collected, checked and while it costs a bit less than using an outside stud, it's not by much at this point of the 'service' game. I'm not a big fan of natural breeding. I don't like my stud dog injured, I don't like him wasting away over-breeding and I don't like my females to deal with any outside debris that can happen from natural breeding. AI is safe, easy and I prefer it if possible.
Vet care - Ultra-sounds are about $150 if we do them. I will U/S if it's a new mom or if a momma has had small litters in the past and I want to make sure a singleton isn't happening. The way I figure it is this... if she's pregnant, I'll most likely know by day 45, sometimes day 50. Since I know when I bred, I can figure out when to be watchful. If I'm just not sure, or I want a puppy count, we move onto the next thing - Radiographs! We always do radiographs on a new mom if she's hiding those pups high. I don't like surprises. Those run around $250.00 for two pictures.
Lastly, the unfortunate CAN happen ...c-sections or worse... emergency c-sections. When that happens you're looking at $750 - 2900. It ranges on when the emergency is, of course (lower range is planned c-section), and it's usually midnight on a Sunday night! ;)
So already we're JUST at the point of puppies being birthed! We're at $1030 with MY stud, with no c-section and tack on $2k for an outside stud, and an additional $2900 if everything goes badly. So between $1000ish to $6k, that's where we stand! Mind... this could be 1 pup, 10 pups with all pups being fine to all being dead.
Regardless of how exemplary care is... Nature is harsh at times.
Now onto puppies... ohhh the puppies!
Birth - It's not quite as simple as pooping out a bunch of absolutely adorable potatoes!! Birth involves accoutrements that go with ...well... birthing. Everything from calcium gel for momma to puppy drops to wet wipes, puppy pads, gloves, lots of coffee... it adds up to a hefty sum to whelp a litter with all the tiny things. I'll just add a price based on some receipts from a prior litter and it's about $300.00
Dewclaws and tails - Yeah, I could do them myself. I don't. I plan a vet visit and box my pups up at 4 days old in a secure carrier with heat, cover them with a towel, and rush into a vet exam room that's been prepared for my arrival and absolutely cleaned prior to my babies being touched. The vet does not place them on surfaces but works in hand with her assistant in fresh smocks and gloves. Why? Where do you think the average person brings their sick dogs to be looked at? Right. I'm careful. The babies are looked at, checked for heart issues, for cleft palates, smushed with love because OMG they're adorable, and then the tails and dewclaws are removed, cauterized and the babies are returned to me. I watch it all to make sure it is done safely, soundly and humanely. For an average of 6 pups, it's about $300.00.
(current sub-total just to whelp pups? $600.00)
Momma - All mommas are a bit thin once they birth pups. They lose even more weight with nursing. I counter that with nutrition! Mommas get partial raw, a quality kibble, supplements for calorie intake and such so they are healthy, sassy and in good condition. That's the thing... vets have determined that the bitches bodies go through the same stress whether they are pregnant or allowed to skip heats. It's actually more dangerous for them to skip, so my girls are bred when in optimal condition until they hit 4 litters - then they're spayed. Very, very, very rarely would one be allowed to have more litters. They would have to be in freakishly good shape -and- be approved by my reproduction vet. Now, a repro vet is a lot more expensive than your usual one. These vets specialize in breeding and know their ..... well!
That said, all those costs add up. To feed a momma from pregnancy to weaning and get her back in fighting shape, as well as vet visits to check her out and approve her for another litter? That's going to be about $600.00 per litter. Care is not cheap if you do it right and I do it right. My dogs are -MY DOGS-. They're not wombs with feet.
Puppy stuff from birth until weaning - Again, a lot of little things and can vary! Foods, toys, litter, pads, etc add up. For 8-12 weeks, it's a daily dollar sign. I'm going to say per litter, on average I spend about $600.00 and that's without any emergencies! ( I know, a lot of 600's, but it really does seem to average out that way.)
Vaccinations - I do early Parvo vaccs and early worming. Those are more expensive in the long run because I do more, and I do selective ones, not the over-the-counter 5-1 nonsense. If I do early Parvo vaccs, I can't just use a 5-1 next round. I have to make sure Parvo and the rest aren't over-done. I believe in appropriate vaccinating, not over-doing it. My dogs are titer tested, the puppies aren't. You should look into doing that later on. Anyway... Each litter will cost me about 250.00 to vaccinate and worm.
Microchipping - I include this with the price. It costs about $30.00 total to chip an entire litter (with shipping, etc).
Litter registration - Yep, I have to register the litter itself. $25.00 + 2/pup thereafter. So on average just to register the litter itself is about $40.00 (depending on # of pups).
Pre-paid Registration - I didn't do this before but it made me sad to see people not registering their pups and worse... disobeying the terms of my contract and choosing names without 'Outlands' before them. I'm proud of my pups! I want them to have my name. Therefore... all pups will be pre-paid and registered so your puppy pack comes with bright and shiny registration papers in hand when you pick your potato up. If you really want a specific name, we can work that out. I don't mind you naming your pup but the Outlands comes first. That's $30.00 per pup, so on average it'll be 30x# of pups, on average? 7.. so let's just say $200.00 for purpose of this post. ...I might be wrong on the pre-reg with EZ Reg though and it might be 20 per pup. Regardless...
(Our sub-total is now at: $2300 *rounded* to whelp and care for pups for 8-12 weeks ...not including breeding costs)
What, no charges for puppy packs? Nope, that's on me. Enjoy.
Delivery! Each trip into Spokane costs about $15.00 and my 'once a litter' trip to Moses Lake is about $100.00. I do this for you guys but it adds up! On average, it costs me about 150.00 in gas to deliver the litter and in time... well, it's hours and no tacos are provided for me at the end of my trip. Alas.
So, in the end here we are!
Breeding costs - $1000 (to $6000)
Puppy costs - 2450.00.
A total of $3450.00 to breed to MY stud with zero issues going on, with a litter of 6 going for base limited registration pricing!
That works out to about $6000.00 profit for me!
GO ME! ...right?
We forgot something... TIME.
I spend HOURS socializing pups, trimming nails, bathing, blowing coats dry (product, product, product! Ice on Ice, look it up), teaching basic obedience, cleaning up after them (Poopocalypse!), etc. Then, there's chatting with ya'll in updates, emails, website stuff, pictures, videos... It's a full time job! I'm just glad my actual paying job is from home where I can do this, but there are times when I get 3 hours of sleep a night on average. It takes a toll. Also a good thing I freelance and am my own boss, or I'd fire myself for yawning when I'm supposed to be painting something spectacular for some video game! ...why can't I ever get hired to draw Corgis?? ;)
I'm not even adding in gas fees on vet trips which also add in time spent. Minimum wage here is about $11.50? So, to be fair, I'm on call 24/7 but clearly I don't work the entire time, so I'm going to drop that $11.50 to $6/hr. Fair enough, right? $6 x 24 = $144 x 84 days of puppy care on average = $12,096. So, I'm taking a hit... by $6000! ...and this is if nothing goes wrong.
If things do go wrong, I'm up THAT creek without a paddle!
Things go wrong a lot, not dramatically but it happens in small chunks (knock on wood). For example, one of my girls had an emergency c-section. I could have waited it out, I chose not to take a chance on the health of my girl or her pups. That was literally $2900. She had 10 pups and lost a few. It happens, it really does. Puppies are very fragile things for the first couple of weeks of life. Prior to that litter, a year earlier I had a litter of 1... and he was a stillborn. The stud fee for that was $2000.00 and unfortunately I never was able to recoup that (long story). With the additional costs to birthing of $1000, I was in the hole for $3000 and nothing to show for it. That comes out of the bottom line of my actual paying job. It happens and a smart breeder will sock money away for those situations. Profit isn't that big ...if you do it right. Do it for the breed, for the individual dogs. Since I have a very small amount of girls, by choice... I can't play the volume game. Nor would I want to.
Now... of course this is all silly... kinda. I mean, there are a lot of variables and sometimes I have more than 6 pups, right?
(what if I have zero or just one, though...)
Look...
I do this because I love this. But, there it is. Pup rearing isn't cheap when all goes right, and worse when things go wrong. It's a labor of love, time and money. Lots of money at times and sometimes ...heartache. I'm not raking in the dollars hand over fist here. But, if I did? Well so what. I'm not being apologetic on my pricing. My pups, my husbandry and rearing of my pups are worth it. I'm more than happy to try and find you a cheaper breeder so you can fulfill your dreams to get a Corgi. No sweat here! Believe me, you - human - you are replaceable. I don't need your business. My pups will find exceptional homes with exceptional owners regardless. So losing your clientele isn't an issue for me. I do what I do, and how I do... and that's it. Sorry (not sorry).
But hey, I like you.
So, if you think my costs are outrageous, I'm sorry. I am. I wish I could gift everyone a Corgi... but that's not realistic. We all need to recoup our expenses and our time spent even if it's a hobby and a passion. Dogs aren't my job, they're my pleasure. I have a job that isn't related to dogs. That job takes care of my house and home.
My Dogs... pay for my dog stuff. That means keeping vet money set aside in a separate account, that means show fees come out of puppies sold - WHEN - I breed my girls. Like I said, they're not wombs churning out puppies, and I don't have outdoor pens full of breeding bitches in some state of pregnancy ready to make me the big bucks! They're my babies. I know each and every hair on their bodies (and my floor, my bed, my couch, my....), I know their quirks, their silly things special to them, their naughty habits (lookin' at you, Lilly!). We work together in this hobby and the second a girl isn't handling having pups, that girl gets spayed and she's back to being herself - champion of bed stealing, treat begging and defender of the front windows!
You know what I haven't mentioned yet? Just because...
Showing fees for my dogs... and handler fees. Of course, we haven't had this yet but that's our goal! That's why we're doing this! We want to make exceptional pets that can stand up in the show ring and represent their breed. I like having the total package. You don't have to sacrifice a healthy dog that's an exceptionally minded individual with pretty looks. You can have both. It just takes work. That's my goal and so far, so good!
Hope you enjoyed this post. My prices are my prices. Don't like them, find another breeder.
Now for those wanting to know why my pups are priced as they are, here's why!
Long, long post incoming... If you're really interested, scroll down, otherwise read the red print below. ;)
tl;dr: This stuff's expensive for reasons, check litter page for pricing.
My puppies aren't churned out, the breedings are specifically chosen to progress MY program. The fact that I can't keep them all results in you fabulous people getting a shot at having one. That said, different breedings and costs mean different pricing. I try to keep my prices workable. Let me give you a bit of a run-down on costs ...and be forewarned, it's a ball-park figure here. Sometimes cheaper, sometimes not:
Breeding - stud fees? They can be pick of litter or the cost of a pup. So, on average you're looking at about $2000 for a breeding. I only breed via AI with outside studs, so costs for semen include shipping, etc, but not actual insemination.
Artificial Insemination - $80 a pop to do progesterone tests at my repro vet to determine when a bitch is in heat and receptive to conception. ...yes, it's 'bitch'. It really is! That's the term for a female dog. Get over it. ;)
On average this is about $80x5+ per breeding. That is on average $400-500 to test, then an additional 130.00 to inseminate vaginally with the costs increasing astronomically depending on how you inseminate, if the sperm is fresh cooled, frozen, if it's MY stud, he still has to be collected, checked and while it costs a bit less than using an outside stud, it's not by much at this point of the 'service' game. I'm not a big fan of natural breeding. I don't like my stud dog injured, I don't like him wasting away over-breeding and I don't like my females to deal with any outside debris that can happen from natural breeding. AI is safe, easy and I prefer it if possible.
Vet care - Ultra-sounds are about $150 if we do them. I will U/S if it's a new mom or if a momma has had small litters in the past and I want to make sure a singleton isn't happening. The way I figure it is this... if she's pregnant, I'll most likely know by day 45, sometimes day 50. Since I know when I bred, I can figure out when to be watchful. If I'm just not sure, or I want a puppy count, we move onto the next thing - Radiographs! We always do radiographs on a new mom if she's hiding those pups high. I don't like surprises. Those run around $250.00 for two pictures.
Lastly, the unfortunate CAN happen ...c-sections or worse... emergency c-sections. When that happens you're looking at $750 - 2900. It ranges on when the emergency is, of course (lower range is planned c-section), and it's usually midnight on a Sunday night! ;)
So already we're JUST at the point of puppies being birthed! We're at $1030 with MY stud, with no c-section and tack on $2k for an outside stud, and an additional $2900 if everything goes badly. So between $1000ish to $6k, that's where we stand! Mind... this could be 1 pup, 10 pups with all pups being fine to all being dead.
Regardless of how exemplary care is... Nature is harsh at times.
Now onto puppies... ohhh the puppies!
Birth - It's not quite as simple as pooping out a bunch of absolutely adorable potatoes!! Birth involves accoutrements that go with ...well... birthing. Everything from calcium gel for momma to puppy drops to wet wipes, puppy pads, gloves, lots of coffee... it adds up to a hefty sum to whelp a litter with all the tiny things. I'll just add a price based on some receipts from a prior litter and it's about $300.00
Dewclaws and tails - Yeah, I could do them myself. I don't. I plan a vet visit and box my pups up at 4 days old in a secure carrier with heat, cover them with a towel, and rush into a vet exam room that's been prepared for my arrival and absolutely cleaned prior to my babies being touched. The vet does not place them on surfaces but works in hand with her assistant in fresh smocks and gloves. Why? Where do you think the average person brings their sick dogs to be looked at? Right. I'm careful. The babies are looked at, checked for heart issues, for cleft palates, smushed with love because OMG they're adorable, and then the tails and dewclaws are removed, cauterized and the babies are returned to me. I watch it all to make sure it is done safely, soundly and humanely. For an average of 6 pups, it's about $300.00.
(current sub-total just to whelp pups? $600.00)
Momma - All mommas are a bit thin once they birth pups. They lose even more weight with nursing. I counter that with nutrition! Mommas get partial raw, a quality kibble, supplements for calorie intake and such so they are healthy, sassy and in good condition. That's the thing... vets have determined that the bitches bodies go through the same stress whether they are pregnant or allowed to skip heats. It's actually more dangerous for them to skip, so my girls are bred when in optimal condition until they hit 4 litters - then they're spayed. Very, very, very rarely would one be allowed to have more litters. They would have to be in freakishly good shape -and- be approved by my reproduction vet. Now, a repro vet is a lot more expensive than your usual one. These vets specialize in breeding and know their ..... well!
That said, all those costs add up. To feed a momma from pregnancy to weaning and get her back in fighting shape, as well as vet visits to check her out and approve her for another litter? That's going to be about $600.00 per litter. Care is not cheap if you do it right and I do it right. My dogs are -MY DOGS-. They're not wombs with feet.
Puppy stuff from birth until weaning - Again, a lot of little things and can vary! Foods, toys, litter, pads, etc add up. For 8-12 weeks, it's a daily dollar sign. I'm going to say per litter, on average I spend about $600.00 and that's without any emergencies! ( I know, a lot of 600's, but it really does seem to average out that way.)
Vaccinations - I do early Parvo vaccs and early worming. Those are more expensive in the long run because I do more, and I do selective ones, not the over-the-counter 5-1 nonsense. If I do early Parvo vaccs, I can't just use a 5-1 next round. I have to make sure Parvo and the rest aren't over-done. I believe in appropriate vaccinating, not over-doing it. My dogs are titer tested, the puppies aren't. You should look into doing that later on. Anyway... Each litter will cost me about 250.00 to vaccinate and worm.
Microchipping - I include this with the price. It costs about $30.00 total to chip an entire litter (with shipping, etc).
Litter registration - Yep, I have to register the litter itself. $25.00 + 2/pup thereafter. So on average just to register the litter itself is about $40.00 (depending on # of pups).
Pre-paid Registration - I didn't do this before but it made me sad to see people not registering their pups and worse... disobeying the terms of my contract and choosing names without 'Outlands' before them. I'm proud of my pups! I want them to have my name. Therefore... all pups will be pre-paid and registered so your puppy pack comes with bright and shiny registration papers in hand when you pick your potato up. If you really want a specific name, we can work that out. I don't mind you naming your pup but the Outlands comes first. That's $30.00 per pup, so on average it'll be 30x# of pups, on average? 7.. so let's just say $200.00 for purpose of this post. ...I might be wrong on the pre-reg with EZ Reg though and it might be 20 per pup. Regardless...
(Our sub-total is now at: $2300 *rounded* to whelp and care for pups for 8-12 weeks ...not including breeding costs)
What, no charges for puppy packs? Nope, that's on me. Enjoy.
Delivery! Each trip into Spokane costs about $15.00 and my 'once a litter' trip to Moses Lake is about $100.00. I do this for you guys but it adds up! On average, it costs me about 150.00 in gas to deliver the litter and in time... well, it's hours and no tacos are provided for me at the end of my trip. Alas.
So, in the end here we are!
Breeding costs - $1000 (to $6000)
Puppy costs - 2450.00.
A total of $3450.00 to breed to MY stud with zero issues going on, with a litter of 6 going for base limited registration pricing!
That works out to about $6000.00 profit for me!
GO ME! ...right?
We forgot something... TIME.
I spend HOURS socializing pups, trimming nails, bathing, blowing coats dry (product, product, product! Ice on Ice, look it up), teaching basic obedience, cleaning up after them (Poopocalypse!), etc. Then, there's chatting with ya'll in updates, emails, website stuff, pictures, videos... It's a full time job! I'm just glad my actual paying job is from home where I can do this, but there are times when I get 3 hours of sleep a night on average. It takes a toll. Also a good thing I freelance and am my own boss, or I'd fire myself for yawning when I'm supposed to be painting something spectacular for some video game! ...why can't I ever get hired to draw Corgis?? ;)
I'm not even adding in gas fees on vet trips which also add in time spent. Minimum wage here is about $11.50? So, to be fair, I'm on call 24/7 but clearly I don't work the entire time, so I'm going to drop that $11.50 to $6/hr. Fair enough, right? $6 x 24 = $144 x 84 days of puppy care on average = $12,096. So, I'm taking a hit... by $6000! ...and this is if nothing goes wrong.
If things do go wrong, I'm up THAT creek without a paddle!
Things go wrong a lot, not dramatically but it happens in small chunks (knock on wood). For example, one of my girls had an emergency c-section. I could have waited it out, I chose not to take a chance on the health of my girl or her pups. That was literally $2900. She had 10 pups and lost a few. It happens, it really does. Puppies are very fragile things for the first couple of weeks of life. Prior to that litter, a year earlier I had a litter of 1... and he was a stillborn. The stud fee for that was $2000.00 and unfortunately I never was able to recoup that (long story). With the additional costs to birthing of $1000, I was in the hole for $3000 and nothing to show for it. That comes out of the bottom line of my actual paying job. It happens and a smart breeder will sock money away for those situations. Profit isn't that big ...if you do it right. Do it for the breed, for the individual dogs. Since I have a very small amount of girls, by choice... I can't play the volume game. Nor would I want to.
Now... of course this is all silly... kinda. I mean, there are a lot of variables and sometimes I have more than 6 pups, right?
(what if I have zero or just one, though...)
Look...
I do this because I love this. But, there it is. Pup rearing isn't cheap when all goes right, and worse when things go wrong. It's a labor of love, time and money. Lots of money at times and sometimes ...heartache. I'm not raking in the dollars hand over fist here. But, if I did? Well so what. I'm not being apologetic on my pricing. My pups, my husbandry and rearing of my pups are worth it. I'm more than happy to try and find you a cheaper breeder so you can fulfill your dreams to get a Corgi. No sweat here! Believe me, you - human - you are replaceable. I don't need your business. My pups will find exceptional homes with exceptional owners regardless. So losing your clientele isn't an issue for me. I do what I do, and how I do... and that's it. Sorry (not sorry).
But hey, I like you.
So, if you think my costs are outrageous, I'm sorry. I am. I wish I could gift everyone a Corgi... but that's not realistic. We all need to recoup our expenses and our time spent even if it's a hobby and a passion. Dogs aren't my job, they're my pleasure. I have a job that isn't related to dogs. That job takes care of my house and home.
My Dogs... pay for my dog stuff. That means keeping vet money set aside in a separate account, that means show fees come out of puppies sold - WHEN - I breed my girls. Like I said, they're not wombs churning out puppies, and I don't have outdoor pens full of breeding bitches in some state of pregnancy ready to make me the big bucks! They're my babies. I know each and every hair on their bodies (and my floor, my bed, my couch, my....), I know their quirks, their silly things special to them, their naughty habits (lookin' at you, Lilly!). We work together in this hobby and the second a girl isn't handling having pups, that girl gets spayed and she's back to being herself - champion of bed stealing, treat begging and defender of the front windows!
You know what I haven't mentioned yet? Just because...
Showing fees for my dogs... and handler fees. Of course, we haven't had this yet but that's our goal! That's why we're doing this! We want to make exceptional pets that can stand up in the show ring and represent their breed. I like having the total package. You don't have to sacrifice a healthy dog that's an exceptionally minded individual with pretty looks. You can have both. It just takes work. That's my goal and so far, so good!
Hope you enjoyed this post. My prices are my prices. Don't like them, find another breeder.
